Aftershock
by crimson-obsidian-rose
Summary: because the journey was much harsher and their homecoming much harder. and because the children still need each other, even though they're not
1. Intention

A/N: Set on Sora and Riku's homecoming day, and just after, this story may contain minor KHII spoilers. First we start with Riku, the day of the return. I hope you guys enjoy it.

Disclaimer: I wish I owned Kingdom Hearts, but unfortunately I don't. That honor belongs to Square Enix and Disney, and I am making no claims against that.

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Aftershock

Intention

Kairi wasn't sure whether she should find it funny that, after everything that had happened to them in the past 2 years, she still knew exactly where to find Riku on that day when he and Sora had finally returned home. The sun was just beginning to set, Sora had gone to see Mickey, Donald and Goofy off as they left, and Kairi was just about to head home when she saw that little boat that had belonged to Riku was still docked on the shore of their "play island," a year and a half after it'd been tied to that wooden dock. She really didn't even have to go looking for him, her memories had led her straight to Paopu Island, the small land mass that held only the Paopu tree around which the trio must've spent hours reflecting. This island was, after all, already being called "Riku's Island" by the 5 other kids who played there, and old habits die hard.

And of course he was there, leaning against that old bent tree trunk the same way he always did, looking out into the great expanse that was the ocean, though Kairi had a feeling his thoughts didn't have anything to do with rafts and adventures and friendship like they used too.

And so she slowly walked to the tree, and she went and stood beside him. For a second there was silence, and Kairi was trying to figure out what she was waiting for. Acknowledgement, maybe?

"Come on Riku, let's go home." She said softly, and the silver haired male didn't answer.

"Riku?"

"I can't go back, Kairi. Not after everything I've done." His voice was quiet and hard, and Kairi could hear the regret and sorrow that laced his syllables.

And, for some unknown reason, Kairi's brow furrowed.

"Riku!" This time her voice was strict, and Riku had to suppress the exasperated sigh. What else was he to expect from Kairi, but a motivational speech about how he was wrong about himself and the darkness.

"Forget it Kairi, I willingly gave into the darkness, you can't deny that." His voice was rougher now, angry as he jerked his head away from the sunset and his face out of her sight, turned to look at the sand beneath his sneakers.

"Riku, look at me Riku." Again Kairi's voice was strict, and made her sound like an angry mother, frustrated by a misbehaved child. Slowly Riku gave in to her demand, and when he complied she roughly shoved his too-long bangs out of his eyes.

"Why did you do it?!" Was she yelling at him? Her angry tone and fierce gaze threw him off for a second; he'd never seen Kairi get this mad at anyone but Sora, and even then it wasn't like this. But even so, he wasn't truly intimidated by her new attitude, and so he said nothing. Soon enough, the glaring dissipated and she let him go, opting instead to look out into the sunset.

"Riku, you did it for us, didn't you? For you, me, and Sora?" Her voice had calmed and quieted, but the gentleness he normally associated with Kairi wasn't there. And then it clicked; she was trying to prove a point, and she was afraid Riku wouldn't listen if she wasn't forceful enough about it.

"…Yeah."

"So then, what's wrong with that?" What's so bad about someone who cares about their friends enough to make sacrifices for them?"

"Don't you get it, Kairi? I surrendered to darkness, let it take over! I was… weak."

"So now fighting the darkness and winning makes a person weak?" Kairi laughed, but it was almost… hollow and bitter. "Riku, I'd say you were one of the strongest people on that battleground. You didn't give up after you made a mistake, and you didn't call it quits after you almost lost. Instead you fought back, and fought harder, and all for us. And you made it back." Here Kairi placed her hand gently on Riku's arm, as away to reassure him, to remove his doubts, but he shrugged it off.

"But I didn't fight back. I let it in, Kairi, and it took over. Do you think I was still fighting for my friends when I took the Keyblade from Sora, or when I took his friends away and left him defenseless, or when I-"

"But that wasn't you, Riku. You were the one that stopped Ansem from killing Sora in that battle, the one who refused to let him get us. You were fighting the darkness then, and ever since."

"That doesn't erase everything that came before that, choosing darkness over Sora's company, hurting anyone that came in my way, kidnapping princesses, I did all that, Kairi, that was me!" Riku shouted, and silence fell upon the duo once again.

"…Sometimes, your intentions outweigh your actions." Kairi broke the calm, not taking her eyes off the ocean. "You did all this for me, and for Sora; you did it for all three of us. If a little kid steals with no money steals food for his starving family, is he still a criminal? Is someone who helps you up only to push you back down and laugh really doing the right thing?" Kairi looked up at Riku now, and smiled when she saw the surprised expression on his face. But quickly enough that vanished, and he tried to say "That's not th-"

"It IS the same thing. I only wish you'd hear what I was saying; nobody blames you for what you did, not me, and not Sora either. Isn't that all that matters?"

"Maybe you both can forgive me, but I can't forgive myself." Silence.

"You know, if it was me, I would have done the same thing."

And now Riku looked up, wondering if Kairi, the princess of heart and his best friend, could really fall as far as he did; he was saddened when he realized he wasn't even able to trust his best friends anymore.

"Would you?"

"I would have done anything for Sora, or for you, Riku. Anything." She emphasized, her navy colored eyes meeting his aquamarine ones. "Trust me."

Silence fell again, the twilit sky slowly darkened.

"I… I guess I have to go back…" Riku started, deep voice laced with traces of fear that only someone close to him would've heard. Kairi heard.

"Yeah. Are you ready?"

"…I… as ready as I'll ever be." He sighed, but his body didn't want to go. Suddenly, he felt the gentle pressure of Kairi's lips against his cheek.

"Don't worry so much Riku," she giggled, whispering in a light, airy tone, "It's made you prematurely grey. Now, come on, everyone's waiting, for you."

And, by some supernatural force, Kairi managed to lead Riku off of his little Paopu island, to the dock, and into the faintly twilit sea.

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If you took the time to read this, and you liked it, or if you didn't, or if you're just somewhere in the middle, please review. I'm sure everyone can find the button now that it's been enlarged and placed front-and-center, and your feedback means a lot to me. I want to know if I should continue this or not, and I want to hear your voices.

crimson-obsidian-rose


	2. Assumption

A/N: At first, this story was only going to be one chapter long, but while I was working on chapter 1, the idea for this came into my head, and after I finished chapter 1, I realized that everything SoRiKa came in trios, so there will be a chapter 3 as well. Thanks so much to everyone who enjoyed chapter 1 and reviewed, this is for you.

Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own Kingdom Hearts.

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Aftershock

Assumption

The sun was bright in the cerulean sky, it's rays causing the ocean beneath it to sparkle with a mystical, brilliant radiance. Sitting at the edge of this ocean, at it's coast, was Kairi; chin resting comfortably on bent knees as her eyes surveyed the wide expanse of blues before her. They had only just gotten home, she was feeling a cornucopia of emotions; joy, relief, security, warmth; but something horrible was nagging at the back of her mind, bringing her to sit here at the play island's shore alone, and not with them.

Seeing them again, Sora, with as wide a smile as always, and Riku, with his same isolated aura, should have made her feel better. After all, these were her boys, and during that time they were separated she had been too, even when she couldn't remember them she felt it, the loneliness. But instead of seeing her Sora and Riku, she saw the changed boys they became; Sora's hidden battle scars, his darkened, tired eyes, Riku's burden in the form of memories that kept in afraid.

Kairi is very, very selfish, she thinks, because if she thinks she was here suffering, then what of her boys; they must have been dying out there, slowly, painfully, and she wasn't even able to remember them. The tiny voice in her mind that she called Naminé sometimes whispered to her to stop thinking this, maybe because she blamed herself in the end for Kairi forgetting, but small voices are easy to ignore.

It made her feel even worse, though, when Sora had taken a nap the day before on this same coast line, and she heard him struggle in his dreams. He lost, jolted awake, and simply shrugged it off with a grin when he saw Kairi watching. And when she was talking to Riku the day before, when they'd returned, and he couldn't even bring himself to face his family, who knew nothing of what he did, because he felt dirty. He, Riku, who was proud and strong and something like an icon before, was too afraid to see his own mother, who Kairi knew would accept him in any form, because she'd spent hours crying over his absence, and prayed to everything that'd he come home.

Seeing them like this, and she knew she was to blame. All her fault; she had to be a stupid Princess of Heart, had to be weak, had to be protected. She tore them apart, she made them fight, and then she had the nerve to forget them. She felt like a monster, something twisted, not human, how could she do it to them?

"Kairi, are you crying?" The voice was soft, friendly, and concerned; Kairi wondered when Sora had gotten so perceptive; in the past he would have gotten a "Hey Kairi," in before he noticed her tears, at least. His observation, the memories of hearing his whispered cries, Riku's constant looming fear, their battle scars, the way that Sora had sat down beside her and looked at her with worried cerulean orbs, it all snapped at once, and Kairi sobbed.

Her palms tightly gripped her face, and she tried her best to stop the tears, but to no avail. Once she started, she found she couldn't stop, so she instead turned her attention to being as discreet as possible about it, willing that her shoulders would stop shaking, that her sobs weren't so loud… later on she might wonder why she wanted to hide her tears from Sora, who was right there and knew what was happening even before she had; or even if it was Sora she was hiding them from. Now, though, she didn't have time to worry about this, because she felt a pair of strong, comforting arms wrap around her, and she was being pulled into Sora's hug. Stunned speechless, but feeling completely safe, Kairi allowed her tears to flow freely for a moment, letting them slow down and calm themselves.

"I…I'm sorry, Sora." Her voice was choky, and it was only just then that she noticed she was returning his hug, fingertips playing with the zipper of his jacket. She removed her arms, and Sora did the same when he realized she was alright, allowing her to sit up.

"Sorry for what? What's wrong, Kairi?" Here he was, her best friend, and she was too scared to confide in him. What would he think of her; probably nothing bad, but that was the problem. It was Sora, he'd tell her not to blame herself, that she was the one who saved him in Hollow Bastion, after all, and brought him back from the darkness after he stopped Xemnas and the one who…

"Do you want me to get Riku here instead?" Sora frowned, and Kairi snapped out of her thoughts. Of course, Sora didn't know how to handle girls in sensitive emotional states, not even his own best friend; Riku probably would have handled this better than him, or, at least, Sora would think so.

"No, don't get Riku… I'm… fine." Kairi smiled, but it was no use. Sora had seen her smile more than anyone else in the worlds, of course he'd know it was fake. He frowned.

"Kairi." He said, almost warningly, definitely upset.

And then she realized she'd been Sora's place before, trying to help Riku. She really should try to make it easier on him; Sora could help her, she knew enough to trust him.

"It's just… you and Riku went on this journey, and fought and got destroyed…" and here the tears started up again, slowly sliding down lightly tanned cheeks, "…and torn apart, and I could do nothing but cause you more and more trouble… it's all my fault this even happened… I'm sorry, Sora." Her voice was choky again as tears fell faster.

"None of that it is true, Kairi!" Sora exclaimed, scaring a seagull that landed a few feet beside his away. "It's all thanks to you we even got home. It's thanks to you I'm not a little buggy thing." Here he put his forefingers in his hair as antennas to mimic a Shadow Heartless, and Kairi giggled, a little. She became somber again though, and Sora silently sighed.

"Listen Kai," Sora started, using a nickname Kairi hadn't heard in far too long, "if it wasn't for you, and for Riku, I'd be a goner. But I guess it's like that all 3 ways. We're best friends, now and forever, and none of us is ever gonna blame you for this, and you'd better not blame yourself, 'k?"

Kairi looked at Sora, and saw his sincerity. Here, she smiled, really smiled, despite the tear streaks that ran down her cheeks. Friends. The way Sora had described it, the three of them were like a unit, a matching set, incomplete without each other, it reminded Kairi just how much she needed them, how much she loved them, her boys.

"Okay, Sora. Thank you." Because maybe, she wasn't feeling so bad about forgetting, or about causing anything; maybe those were just excuses. Maybe the thing that was really worrying her, the idea that made her sick to stomach and stabbed at her heart was really whether or not they even needed her anymore, or if things were ever going to be the same again between them, because she never, ever wants to see them leave again. And so, gently resting her head on Sora's broadened shoulder, she closes her eyes and relaxes, because she knows they're safe now.

"Thank you."

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I hope that this made sense, I know there are a lot of run-on sentences, but I felt that it was the best way to describe Kairi's frazzled thoughts. I also hope I characterized the characters well. Please, guys, tell me what you think.

crimson-obsidian-rose


	3. Confession

A/N: Okay guys, so here is Chapter 3. I'm not sure if the alert went out for Chapter 2, since no one reviewed, but that's alright, I suppose. I'm not sure this one was as good as the other 2, simply because I think the best way to cheer Sora up is to make him laugh and feel good, which means that this came out a little less sentimental than the other two. Still, I hope that you guys enjoy the final chapter, Confession.

Disclaimer: Don't own anything. I barely own myself.

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Confession

The Destiny Island sun, when placed right in the center of the sky, produces the most unbearable heat of any sun in any world that Riku has been to. On this particular day, only 5 days after his and Sora's homecoming, the last thing he wanted to do was to be out on the beach, at noon, standing in the sand where there was absolutely no shade, baking in the sunlight. It bothered his eyes, made him miss his blindfold more than he should have, as he wiped sweat off his brow. No one else was out on this beach now; none of the islands residents were silly enough to leave their houses in the middle of this heat wave, and they hadn't spent the last year and a half surfing through much cooler worlds.

Well, there was one other person out here. Nothing was shielding this second person, who was currently asleep in the sand, dressed in all blacks and dark blues, the light jacket under his head soaking in his head. Riku had to question his friend's mental capability; sure, that outfit was cool for the Keyblade master saving the worlds, but when living on Destiny Islands one should dress in something less… heavy.

Sighing, Riku simply shook his head, sweat falling in droplets onto the sand. As he approached his napping friend, it didn't take long for him to notice the miniature sandstorm Sora was causing as he thrashed around him his sleep. Noticing his friend's pained expression and hearing incoherent grumbles and moans, Riku picked up the pace and rushed over to him.

"Sora. Sora, wake up!" He said sharply, the ocean eyes opened.

"Huh? Riku?" He asked, after which he shook his head a little. "What happened?"

"You were sleeping out on the beach in 100 degree weather having a nightmare. You tell me what happened." Riku answered, and Sora turned his gaze away from his silver haired friend and out to the ocean. Man, did he want to go jump into that clear, blue water…

"Don't try it, you'll get sick if you get drenched while you're covered in sweat." Riku advised, and Sora nodded.

"So, are you going to tell me what's been giving you nightmares or what?"

"How'd you know? About the nightmares, I mean…"

"Kairi mentioned it, said she found you sleeping here on the beach 2 days ago, thrashing and crying. It's how I knew where to find you, when you're mom told me you were gone. She's worried about you too; says she feels like she doesn't know her son anymore." Riku explained, and Sora remained silent for a moment. Throughout his travels, he'd missed getting the opportunity to talk to Riku and Kairi, or anyone his age for that matter, but especially his best friends. Now that he was back, he was much less reluctant to share his problems with his friends than they had been, so he asked the question that'd been bothering him for days.

"Did I do the wrong thing, getting rid of Organization XIII? I mean, I know they were Nobodies, and that they were selfishly hurting others for their own benefit, but in the end all they wanted were there hearts back. They only wanted to be whole again, and I took it away from them."

"Is that what had you worried?" Riku asked, almost taken aback. "Listen, Sora, you did the right thing. Do you know how many hearts they would have needed to complete Kingdom Hearts? Millions of people would have to die, just for 12 Nobodies to get their hearts back. You did the right thing." He finished, forcefully, trying to beat the idea into his friend's mind.

"I know, but… if I did the right thing, then how come Roxas won't talk to me?"

"Roxas?" Riku repeated, confused by the random subject. "Didn't he fade back into you?"

"Yeah, but it's like, I can still feel him in there, his thoughts and his memories. Kairi told me that Naminé talks to her all the time, but Roxas never says anything to me."

"Yeah, well, he was pretty moody when I met him." Riku commented, annoyed at the younger nobody that was part of the cause of his friends anguish. It's not Sora's fault he was fulfilling his duty as Keyblade master.

Sora chuckled, "Yeah, he is kinda moody. But, at the same time, it's like I really wanna get to know him, you know? Roxas seems pretty cool, when he's not all emo-y in there."

Riku had to smile at that. "Don't worry; I'm sure someday he'll get so bored of doing nothing he'll start talking to you. Then you'll become friends, and then he'll realize just how annoying you are and he'll wish he never started talking to you." Riku joked, ruffling his friend's spikes a little, but quickly realizing his mistake as he wiped the sweat off onto his pants. At that, Sora laughed too, and the smile stuck on his face.

"Thanks Riku. You're the best."

"Ya ya, don't start getting sappy on me, it's way too hot out here. Now come on, let's go back to where there's shade."

"Okay then, race ya!" And up Sora went, grabbing his jacket and sprinting down the beach to the docks.

"Sora! It's too hot to run! Come on Sora, stop running, I'm getting hotter just looking at you!" But there went Riku, running after his friend anyways, as the sun pelted them with it's intense rays.

The End

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And there you have it. Please review with any comments, or even constructive criticisms, I can take it!

crimson-obsidian-rose


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